ni 


i 


Tsrn, 


President's  mes 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #85 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 


To  the  Congress  of  tJie  Confederate  States : 

The  few  weeks  which  have  elapsed  since  your  adjournmeni: 
have  brought  us  so  near  the  elose  of  the  year,  that  we  are- 
now  able  to  sum  up  its  general  results.  The  retrospect  is 
such  as  should  fill  the  hearts  of  our  people  with  gratitude 
to  Providence  for  His  kind  interposition  in  their  behalf. 
Abundant  yields  have  rewarded  the  labor  of  the  agricultu- 
rist, whilst  the  manufiicturing  industry  of  the  Confederate 
States  was  never  so  prosperous  as  now.  The  necessities  of 
the  times  have  called  into  existence  new  branches  of  manu- 
factures, and  given  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  activity  of  those 
heretofore  in  operation.  The  means  of  the  Confederate- 
States  for  manufacturing  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life 
within  themselves  increase  as  the  conflict  continues,  and  we 
are  gradually  becoming  independent  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  for  the  supply  of  such  military  stores  amd  munitions 
as  are  indispensable  for  war. 

The  operations  of  the  army,  soon  to  be  partially  interrup- 
ted by  the  approaching  wintCT.  have  afforded  a  protection 
to  the  country,  and  shed  a  lustrs-  upon  its  arms  through  the 
trying  vicissitudes  of  more  than  one  arduous  campaign, 
which  entitle  our  brave  volunteers  to  our  praise  and  our 
gratitude. 

From^  its  commencement  up  to  the  present  period,  the  war 
has  been)  enlarging  its  proportions  and  expanding  its  bounda- 
ries, so  as;  to  include  new  fields.  The  conflict  now  extends 
from  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  to  the  confines  of  Mis- 
souri and  Arizona;  yet,  sudden  calls  from  the  remotest 
points  for  military  aid  have  been  met  with  promptness 
enough  not  only  to  avert  disaster  in  the  face  of  superior 
numbers,  but,  also,  to  roll  back  the  tide  of  invasion  from 
the  border. 

When  the  war  commenced,  the  enemy  were  possessed 
of  certain  strategic  points  and  strong  places  within  the  Con- 
federate States.  They  greatly  exceeded  us  in  numbers,  in 
available  resources,  and  in  the  supplies  necessary  for  war. 
Military  establishments  had  been  long  organized,  and  were 
complete ;  the  navy,  and  for  the  most  part,  the  army,  once 


common  to  both,  -^'ere  in  their  possession.  To  meet  all  this^ 
we  had  to  create  not  only  an  army  in  the  face  of  Avar  itself, 
but  also  the  military  establisliments  necessary  to  equip  and 
place  it  in  the  field.  It  ought  indeed  to  be  a  subject  of 
gratulation  that  the  spirit  of  the  volunteers  and  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  people  ha^e  enabled  us,  under  Providence, 
to  grapple  successfully  with  these  difficulties.  A  succession 
of  glorious  victories  at  Bethel,  Bull  lUm,  Manassas, 
Springfield,  Lexington,  Lecsburg  and  Belmont,  has 
checked  the  wicked  invasion  which  greed  of  gain  and 
the  unhallowed  lust  of  power  brought  upon  our  soil, 
and  has  proved  that  numbers  cease  to  avail  when  direct- 
ed against  a  people  fighting  for  the  sacred  right  of  self- 
government  and  the  privileges  of  freemen.  After  more  tlian 
seven  months  of  war,  the  enemy  have  ruot  only  failed  to  ex- 
tend their  occupancy  of  our  soil,  but  new  States  and  Terri- 
tories have  been  added  to  our  Confederacy,  v>'hile,  instead 
of  their  threatened  march  of  unchecked  conquest^  they  have 
been  driven,  at  more  than  one  point,  to  assume  the  defensive ; 
and,  upon  a  fair  comparison  between  the  two  belligerents  as 
to  men,  military  means,  and  financial  condition,  the  Confede- 
rate States  are  relatively  much  stronger  nov>^  than  when  the 
struggle  commenced. 

Since  your  adjournment  the  people  of  Missouri  have  con- 
ducted the  war  in  the  face  of  almost  unparalleled  difficulties, 
with  a  spirit  and  success  alike  worthy  of  themselves  and  of  the 
great  cause  in  which  they  are  struggling.  Since  that  time 
Kentucky,  too,  has  become  the  theatre  of  active  hostilities. 
The  Federal  forces  have  not  only  refused  to  acknowledge 
her  right  to  be  neutral,  and  have  insisted  upon  making  her 
a  party  to  the  war,  but  have  invaded  her  for  the  pur- 
pose of  attacking  the  Confederate  States.  Outrages  of  the 
most  despotic  character  have  been  perpetrated  upon  her  peo- 
ple ;  some  of  her  most  eminent  citizens  have  been  seized  and 
borne  away  to  languish  in  foreign  prisons  without  knowing 
who  were  their  accusers,  or  the  specific  charges  made  against 
them,  while  others  have  been  forced  to  abandon  their  homes, 
families,  and  property,  and  seek  a  refuge  in  distant  lands. 

Finding  that  the  Confederate  States  wei^e  about  to  be  invaded 
through  Kentucky,  and  that  her  people,  after  being  deceived 
into  a  mistaken  security,  were  unarmed,  and  in  danger  of  be- 
ing subjugated  by  the  Federal  forces,  our  armies  were  marched 
into  that  State  to  repel  the  enemy  and  prevent  their  occu- 
pation of  certain  strategic  points  which  would  have  given 
them  great  advantages  in  the  contest — a  step  which  was  jus- 


tified,  not  only  by  tlie  necessities  of  self-defence  on  the  part 
of  tli'e  Confederate  States,  but,  also,  by  a  desire  to  aid  tlie 
people  of  Kentucky.  It  was  never  intended  by  the  Confed- 
erate Government  to  conquer  or  coerce  the  people  of  that 
State  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  declared J3y  our  Generals 
that  they  would  withdraw  their  troops  if  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment would  do  likewise.  Proclamation  was  also  made  of  the 
desire  to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky,  and  the  intention 
to  abide  by  the  wishes  of  her  people  as  soon  as  they  were  free 
to  express  their  opinions. 

These  declarations  were  approved  by  mo,  and  I  should 
regard  it  as  one  of  the  best  effects  of  the  march  of  our  troops 
in?o  Kentucky  if  it  should  end  in  giving  to  her  people  lib- 
erty of  choice  and  a  free  opportunity  to  decide  their  ovrn 
destiny  according  to  their  own  will. 

The  army  has  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  prosecuting 
the  great  contest  in  which  we  are  engaged ;  but  the  Navy 
has  also  been  effective  in  full  proportion  to  its  means.  _  The 
naval  officers  deprived  to  a  great  extent  of  an  opportunity  to 
make  their  professional  skill  available  at  sea  have  served  with 
commendable  zeal  and  gallantry  on  shore  and  upon  inland 
waters,  further  detail  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  reports 
of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  War. 

In  the  transportation  of  the  mails  many  difficulties  have 
arisen  which  will  be  found  fully  developed  in  the  report  of 
the  Postmaster-General.  The  absorption  of  the  ordinary 
means  of  transportation  for  the  movement  of  troops  and  milita- 
ry supplies,  the  insufficiency  of  the  rolling  stock  of  rail  roads 
for  the  accumulation  of  business  resulting  both  from  mili- 
tary operations,  and  the  obstruction  of  water  communica- 
tion by  the  presence  of  the  enemy's  fleet ;  the  failure  and 
even  refusal  of  contractors  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  their 
agreements  ;  the  difficulties  inherent  in  inaugurating  so  vast 
and  complicated  a  system  as  that  which  requires  postal 
facilities  for  every  town  and  village  in  a  territory  so  ex- 
tended as  ours,  have  all  combined  to  impede  the  best  directed 
efforts  of  the  Postmaster-General,  Avhose  zeal,  industry  and 
ability  have  been  taxed  to  the  utmost  extent.  Some_  of 
these  difficulties  can  only  be  overcome  by  timeand  an  im- 
proved condition  of  the  country  upon  the  restoration  of  peace, 
but  others  may  be  remedied  by  legislation,  and  your  atten- 
tion is  invited  to  the  recommendations  contained  in  the  re- 
port of  the  Head  of  that  Department. 

The  condition   of  the   Treasury  will,  doubtless,  be  a  sub- 
ject of  anxious  enquiry  on  your  part.     I  am  happy  to  say 


that  tlie  financial  system  already  adopted  has  worked  well 
so  far,  and  promises  good  results  for  the  future.  To  the 
extent  that  Treasury  notes  may  be  issued,  the  Government 
is  enabled  to  borrow  money  without  interest,  and  thus  facili- 
tate the  conduct  of  the  war.  This  extent  is  measured  by 
the  portion  of  the  field  of  circulation  which  these  notes  can 
be  made  to  occupy.  The  proportion  of  the  field  thus  occu- 
pied depends  again  upon  the  amount  of  the  debts  for  which 
they  are  receivable ;  and  when  dues,  not  only  to  the  Con- 
federate and  State  governments,  but  also  to  corporations  and 
individuals,  are  payable  in  this  medium,  a  large  amount  of 
it  may  be  circulated  at  par.  There  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Confederate  Treasury  note  is  fast  becoming 
such  a  medium.  The  provision  that  these  notes  shall  be 
convertible  into  Confederate  stock,  bearing  eight  per  cent, 
interest,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  holder,  ensures  them  against 
a  depreciation  below  the  value  of  that  stock,  and  no  consi- 
derable fall  in  that  value  need  be  feared  so  long  as  the  in- 
terest shall  be  punctually  paid.  The  punctual  payment  of 
this  interest  has  been  secured  by  the  act  passed  by  you  at 
the  last  session,  imposing  such  a  rate  of  taxation  as  must 
provide  sufficient  means  for  that  purpose. 

For  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  war,  it  is  indispen- 
sable that  the  means  of  transporting  troops  and  military 
supplies  be  furnished,  as  far  as  possible,  in  such  manner  as 
not  to  interrupt  the  commercial  intercourse  between  our 
people,  nor  place  a  check  on  their  productive  energies.  To 
this  end  the  means  of  transportation  from  one  section  of  our 
country  to  the  other  must  be  carefully  guarded  and  improv- 
ed. And  this  should  be  the  object  of  anxious  care  on  the 
part  of  State  and  Confederate  Governments,  so  far  as  they 
may  have  power  over  the  subject. 

We  have  already  two  main  systems  of  through  transpor- 
tation from  the  North  to  the  South — one  from  Richmond, 
along  the  seaboard ;  the  other  through  Western  Virginia  to 
New  Orleans.  A  third  might  be  secured  by  completing  a 
link  of  about  forty  miles  between  Danville,  in  Virginia,  and 
'Greensborough,  in  North  Carolina.  The  construction  of  this 
•comparatively  short  line  would  give  us  a  through  route  from 
North  to  South  in  the  interior  of  the  Confederate  States,  and 
give  us  access  to  a  population  and  to  military  resources  from 
which  we  are  now,  in  great  measure,  debarred.  We  should 
increase  greatly  the  safety  and  capacity  of  our  means  for 
transporting  men  and  military  supplies.  If  the  construc- 
tion of  this  road  should,  in  the  judgment  of  Congress,  as 


it  is  in  mine,  be  indispensable  for  tlie  most  successful  pro- 
secution of  the  war,  the  action  of  the  Government  will  not 
be  restrained  by  the  constitutional  objection  which  would 
attach  to  a  work  for  commercial  purposes,  and  attention  is 
invited  to  the  practicability  of  securing  its  early  comple- 
tion by  giving  the  needful  aid  to  the  company  organized  for 
its  construction  and  administration. 

If  we  husband  our  means  and  make  a  judicious  use  of  our 
resources  it  would  be  difficult  to  fix  a  limit  to  the  period 
during  which  we  could  conduct  a  war  against  the  adversary 
whom  we  now  encounter.  The  very  efforts  which  he  makes 
to  isolate  and  invade  us  must  exhaust  his  means  whilst  they 
serve  to  complete  the  circle  and  diversify  the  productions  of 
our  industrial  system.  The  reconstruction  which  he  seeks 
to  eifect  by  arms  becomes  daily  more  and  more  palpably  im- 
possible. Not  only  do  the  causes  which  induced  us  to  sep- 
arate still  exist  in  full  force,  but  they  have  been  strengthen- 
ed, and  whatever  doubt  may  have  lingered  in  the  minds  of 
any  must  have  been  completely  dispelled  by  subsequent 
events.  If  instead  of  being  a  dissolution  of  a  league,  it 
were  indeed  a  rebellion  in  which  we  are  ensaired,  we 
might  find  ample  vindication  for  the  course  we  have 
adopted  in  the  scenes  which  are  now  being  enacted  in 
the  United  States.  Our  people  now  look  with  contempt- 
uous astonishment  on  those  with  whom  they  had  been  so 
recently  associated.  They  shrink  with  aversion  from  the 
bare  idea  of  renewing  such  a  connection.  When  they  see 
a  President  making  war  without  the  assent  of  Congress ; 
when  they  behold  judges  threatened  because  they  maintain 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  so  sacred  to  freemen  ;  when  they 
see  justice  and  law  trampled  under  the  armed  heel  of  mili- 
tary authority,  and  upright  men  and  innocent  women  dragged 
to  distant  dungeons  upon  the  mere  edict  of  a  despot ;  when 
they  find  all  this  tolerated  and  applauded  by  a  people  who 
had  been  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  freedom  but  a  few  months 
ago, — they  believe  that  there  must  be  some  radical  incom- 
patibility between  such  a  people  and  themselves.  With  such 
a  people  we  may  be  content  to  live  at  peace,  but  the  separa- 
tion is  final  and  for  the  independence  we  have  asserted  we 
will  accept  no  alternative. 

The  nature  of  the  hostilities  which  they  have  waged 
against  us,  must  be  characterized  as  barbarous  wherever  it 
is  understood.  They  have  bombarded  undefended  A'illages 
without  giving  notice  to  women  and  children  to  enable  them 
to  escape,  and  in  one  instance,   selected  the  night  as  the 


'period  Avhon  they  mi<xht  surprise  them  most  effcctualh^  -whilst 
asleep  and  unsuspicious  of  danger.  Arson  and  rapine,  the 
destruction  of  private  houses  and  property,  and  injuries  of 
the  mostwanton  character,  even  upon  non-combatants,  have 
marked  their  forays  along  our  borders  and  upon  our  terri- 
tory. Although  we  ought  to  have  been  admonished  by 
these  things,  that  they  were  disposed  to  make  war  upon  us 
in  the  most  cruel  and  relentless  spirit;  yet,  we  were  not 
prepared  to  see  them  fit  out  a  large  naval  expedition,  vrith 
the  confessed  purpose  not  only  to  pillage,  but  to  incite  a 
servile  insurrection  in  our  midst. 

If  they  convert  their  soldiers  into  incendiaries  and  robbers, 
and  involve  us  in  a  species  of  war  which  claims  non-com- 
batants, women  and  children  as  its  victims,  they  must  ex- 
pect to  be  treated  as  outlaws  and  enemies  of  mankind. 
There  are  certain  rights  of  humanity  which  are  entitled  to 
respect,  even  in  war,  and  he  who  refuses  to  regard  them 
forfeits  his  claims,  if  captured,  to  be  considered  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  but  must  expect  to  be  dealt  with  as  an  offender 
against  all  law,  human  and  divine. 

But  not  content  vrith  violating  our  rights,  under  the  -law 
of  nations,  at  home,  they  have  extended  these  injuries  to 
us  v/ithin  other  jurisdictions.  The  distinguished  gentle- 
men whom,  with  ^^our  approval,  a.t  the  last  session,  I  com- 
missioned to  represent  the  Confederacy  at  .certain  foreign 
courts,  have  been  recently  seized  by  the  captain  of  a  United 
States  &h-ip-of-v»'ar,  on  board  a  British  steamer,  on  their  voy- 
age from  the  neutral  Spanish  port  of  Havana  to  England. 
The  United  States  have  thus  claimed  a  general  jurisdiction 
over  the  high  seas,  and  entering  a  British  ship,  sailing  under 
its  country's  'flag,  violated  the  rights  of  embassy,  for  the 
most  part  held  sacred  even  amongst  barbarians,  by  seizing 
our  ministers  whilst  under  the  protection  and  within  the 
dominions  of  a  neutral  nation.  These  gentlemen  were  as 
much  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  Government  upon 
that  ship  and  beneath  its  flag  as  if  they  had  been  on^its  soil, 
:riid  a  claim  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  seize  them 
in  the  streets  of  London  would  have  been  as  well  founded  as 
that  to  apprehend  them  where  they  were  taken.  Had  they 
been  malefactors  and  citizens  even  of  the  United  States, 
they  could  not  have  been  arrested  on  a  British  ship  or  on 
British  soil,  unless  under  the  express  provisions  of  a  treaty 
and  according  to  the  forms  therein  provided  for  the  extra- 
dition of  criminals. 

But  rights  the  most  sacred  seem  to  have  lost  all  respect 


in  their  eyes.  AVlien  Mr.  Faulkner,  a  former  minister  ®f 
the  United  States  to  France,  commissioned  before  the  seces- 
sion of  Virginia,  his  native  State,  returned  in  good  fiith  to 
Washington  to  settle  his  accounts  and  fulfil  all  the  obliga- 
tions into  which  he  had  entered,  he  was  perfidiousl}^  arrested 
and  imprisoned  in  Nov/  York,  whore  he  now  is.  The  unsus- 
pecting confidence  with  which  he  reported  to  his  Govern- 
ment was  abused,  and  his  desire  to  fulfil  his  trust  to  them 
vras  used  to  his  injury. 

In  conducting  this  war,  vv'e  have  sought  no  aid  and  pro- 
posed no  alliances  offensive  and  defensive  abroad.  We  have 
asked  for  a  recognized  place  in  the  great  family  of  nations, 
but  in  doing  so  we  have  demanded  nothing  for  which  we  did 
not  ofter  a  fair  equivalent.  The  advantages  of  intercourse 
are  mutual  amongst  nations,  and  in  seeking  to  establish 
diplomatic  relations,  we  were  only  endeavoring  to  place  that 
intercourse  under  the  regulation  of  public  lavv-.  Perhaps 
we  had  the  right  if  we  had  chosen  to  exercise  it,  to  ask  to 
know  whether  the  principle  that  ''blockades  to  be  binding, 
must  be  effectual,"  so  solemnly  announced  by  the  great 
Powers  of  Europe  at  Paris,  is  to  be  generally  enforced  or 
a<pplicd  only  to  particular  parties. 

When  the  Confederate  States  at  your  last  session  became 
a  party  to  the  declaration  reafiirming  this  principle  of  inter- 
national law,  which  has  been  recognized  so  long  by  publi- 
cists and  Governments,  we  certainly  supposed  that  it  vras  to 
be  universally  enforced.  The  customary  law  of  nations  is 
made  up  of  their  practice  rather  than  their  declarations; 
and  if  such  declarations  are  only  to  be  enforced  in  particu- 
lar instances  at  the  pleasure  of  those  who  make  them,  then 
the  commerce  of  the  world  so  far  from  being  placed  under 
the  regulation  of  a  general  lavv%  will  become  subject  to  the 
caprice  of  those  who  execute  or  suspend  it  at  will.  If  such 
is  to  be  the  course  of  na.tions  in  rei^ard  to  this  law,  it  is 
plain  that  it  will  thus  become  a  rule  for  the  weak  and  not  for 
the  strong. 

Feeling  that  such  views  must  be- taken  by  the  neutral  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  I  have  caused  the  evidence  to  be  collected 
which  proves  completely  the  utter  inefficiency  of  the  pro- 
claimed blockade  of  our  coast,  and  shall  direct  it  to  be  laid 
before  such  Governments  as  shall  afford  us  the  means  of  be- 
ing heard.  But  although  we  should  be  benefited  by  the 
enforcement  of  this  law  so  solemnly  declared  by  the  great 
powers  of  Europe,  we  are  not  dependent  on  that  enforce- 
ment for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war.     As  long 


8 

as  hostilities  continue-  the  Confederate  States  will  exhibit  aj 
steadily  increasing  capacity  to  furnish  their  troops  with 
food,  clothing  and  arms.  If  they  should  be  forced  to  forego 
many  of  the  luxuries  and  some  of  the  comforts  of  life,  they 
will,  at  least,  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  they  are 
thus  daily  becoming  more  and  more  independent  of  the  rest 
of  the  world.  If,  in  this  process,  labor  in  the  Confederate 
States  should  be  gradually  diverted  from  those  great  South- 
ern staples  which  have  given  life  to  so  much  of  the  com- 
merce of  mankind  into  other  channels  so  as  to  make  them 
rival  producers  instead  of  profitable  customers,  they  will 
not  be  the  only  or  even  the  chief  losers  by  this  change  in 
the  direction  of  their  industry.  xVlthough  it  is  true  that  the 
cotton  supply  from  the  Southern  States  could  only  be  totally 
cut  off  by  the  subversion  of  our  social  system ;  yet  it  is  plain^ 
that  a  long  continuance  of  this  blockade  might,  by  a  diver- 
sion of  labor  and  an  investment  of  capital  in  other  employ- 
ments, so  diminish  the  supply  as  to  bring  ruin  upon  all  those 
interests  of  foreign  countries  which  are  dependent  on  that 
staple.  For  every  laborer  who  is  diverted  from  the  culture 
of  cotton  in  the  South,  perhaps,  four  times  as  many  else- 
where, who  have  found  subsistence  in  the  various  employ- 
ments growing  out  of  its  use,  will  be  forced,  also,  to  change 
their  occupation. 

While  the  war  which  is  w^aged  to  take  from  us  the  right 
of  self-government  can  never  attain  that  end,  it  remains  to 
be  seen  how  far  it  may  work  a  revolution  in  the  industrial 
system  of  the  world,  which  may  carry  suifering  to  other 
lands  as  well  as  to  our  own.  In  the  meantime,  we  shall 
continue  this  struggle  in  humble  dependence  upon  Providence 
from  whose  searching  scrutiny  Ave  cannot  conceal  the  secrets 
of  our  hearts,  and  to  whose  rule  we  confidently  submit  our 
destinies.  For  the  rest,  we  shall  depend  upon  ourselves — 
Liberty  is  always  won  where  there  exists  the  unconquerable 
will  to  be  free,  and  we  have  reason  to  know  the  strength 
that  is  given  by  a  conscious  sense,  not  only  of  the  magnitude,, 
but  of  the  righteousness  of  our  cause. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 
Richmond,  November  18,  1861, 


J 


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